Entropy
by Arokhsteel
Summary: A world sitting on the edge of its destruction by an idiot god. The broken man who in his sad attempt to show the world everyone was just as weak as him that would bring on the end of it all. The girl who would sacrifice everything to kill the god only to have her efforts rewarded with a bullet to the head. Really how could Omega resist putting some entropy out there?


**An: Literally typed this up on a whim and hour or so. So yeah I don't own none of this.**

* * *

Entropy

Omega looked down at the green marble that was the earth, arms crossed and a contemplative look on his face. This was a new one, he'd no idea how it was he'd almost completely missed this section of the multiverse. It was small sure, relatively speaking of course; what was a few hundred trillion realities compared to the nigh infinity that was the current multiverse, but that didn't change that he had missed it. As a being so old that numbers failed to capture the true scope of his existence Omega was rather well informed, he could _almost_ perfectly name every multiverse cluster, unlike Infinity who often stated she could name every universe and the names of their inhabitants from memory but she _cheated_ so it didn't count, so it irked him that this one had almost completely avoided his notice.

The entity grumbled, not doubting for a moment that Infinity would hold this over his head for Eons to come as she no doubt was fully aware of this reality cluster like all others. Still he had found it and like all others he looked over he saw beings that dearly to be reminded of their place in the cosmic peeking order. After looking through a number of branching realities, some the distant human future others their distant past, he located a perfect example of the kind of irritating arrogance he despised. Here he found an entire _species_ of arrogant multidimensional space whale shits that _dared_ to presume that they had some sort of twisted lordship over their tiny, tiny, tiny, _tiny_ speck of the multiverse. Trying to gather a form of energy that could set back or halt the inevitable heat death of a universe, the gall.

Omega was a being of power and knowledge so far above these pests, these _worms_ as the very sun was above an amoeba. All his power and at the end of it all he was powerless to stop the heat death of _a single universe_, of course he could force the universe to continue expanding past the point of its natural expansion but all life died regardless as if the multiverse was mocking him, mocking his hubris. He'd tried everything, from getting Alpha to assist him in the creation of new stars to replace the ones that were close to burning out to simply pumping the universe with the energy to force it to continue and still nothing. And he could bring that same universe to its early demise, because of _course he could cause more death_, but that was nothing. He'd tried, oh how he'd tried, countless times to stop the destruction that empowered him. How he'd attempted to stem the tide of death and suffering that fed his very existence.

And he failed every single time.

All his power, his knowledge and there was one immutable truth he could not circumvent. One law he could not break.

All things must die.

He'd long since made peace with it. Made peace with the fact that he would continue to exist and gain strength from the deaths and suffering of the very beings that he so loved, until such time as all was gone and he would wither away. So he could not save them from their inevitable deaths, he could not prolong their lives past the destruction of their universe, but he could make damn sure that those who tried to emulate his power, tried to foist their strength over others for the mere pleasure of it. Those he would strike down, those he would obliterate. That was why when he looked down at the specks of shit that thought they could do what he failed to do so many times to do, he promised to obliterate them all. This one time he would allow himself to feel.

This one time, he would relish the genocide he was destined to bring.

Ω Ω Ω

Water.

All that she could see, all that she could feel was the ever present hammer, the nearly suffocating downpour of water. Her first Endbringer battle. Her last if she didn't move and keep her feet out and under her.

_Fierceling Deceased, CD-5. Adamant down, CD-5_

Taylor cursed the mechanical tone of the armband, marking down the death and incapacitation of the two capes. She turned to her current charge, a teen wearing some kind of metallic costume with some kind of bird designed into it, what kind escaped her as she struggled to lift the boy, his left leg little more than meat from the knee down. She pushed forward, fighting to keep upright against the armored teen's near dead weight and the heavy sloshing of the knee high water, water that was _ all around her_. She pushed the thought down, Even as a flier cape came down and picked the teen from her, she staggered, her ears ringing as a sudden shockwave and literal wave crashed into her, threatening to topple her.

_Chubster Deceased, CD-5, Hallow Deceased, CD-5, Adamant Deceased, CD-5…_

Taylor tuned out the voice, trying to focus, trying to drown out the ringing. She turned catching sight as Alexandria barreled toward Leviathan, the jumpsuit clad heroine moving to hit the force of a tactical strike missile, her cape snapping to and fro from the wind. The middle child of the three Endbringers stood tall, his thirty feet of height growing as his hunched form suddenly straightened like an arrow. He moved, faster than he had when he had first leapt into the fray, faster that he should be able to. His sudden pivot left the Triumvirate hero without a target and she was unable to adjust her path before the titan's tail lashed out catapulting the heroine into the water and concrete below. With neither a gesture nor warning the all the water near the downed heroine rushed inwards, pressing into her and rising. Legend was quick to rush towards his teammates aide, the premiere blaster's white and blue jumpsuit slick whit rain his brown hair matted nearly flat against his head. Unfortunatly Leviathan's water shadow, which _hadn't followed up_ on his attack on Alexandria lashed outwards, forming into a point like some kind of spear and sought out the premiere blaster. To his credit the hero managed to shift into his breaker light form to just barely avoid the attack, the three capes a ways behind him were far less lucky.

_Glory Girl Down, CD-5, Ascendant Deceased, CD-5. Halo Deceased, CD-5._

Two more tendrils like the first sprouted up from the beasts feet, whipping back and forth, each swing violent and each swing hitting more and more capes. Off to the side Taylor caught sight of Eidolon, garbed in his green hooded cloak holding his hands outward, attempting to slow the tendrils by means of some power. Taylor herself only barely managed to dodge to the side, feeling the air pass over her lenses as one came far too close for comfort. And then suddenly like that she found her body rooted. She struggled briefly only to find that she was woefully immobile and helpless. What had happened? Her heart hammered in her chest and she found the feeling more and more painful as the second drew on. It was only then Taylor Hebert realized something strange and horrible.

It was quiet.

All sound of the water sloshing, the heavy pounding of the rain, even the sound of battle had all but ceased. When she turned her gaze to the last location of the battle she found her answer for the sudden silence. A wall of rain drops held themselves suspended in the air, the water at her feet still as if it were ice. Even worse she realized, was that _every single cape_ found themselves in similar positions as her. When she thought about it, it made a horrible kind of sense. Leviathan was a macro hydrokinetic, and the human body was made up of something like 60% water. Leviathan had frozen all the water around him, including the blood and various liquids in every cape fighting him and with every passing second she could feel her heart thrum harder to try and move the nearly frozen substance. She couldn't believe it, how could they have ever won against something with that kind of power? What kind of monster was he? Why hadn't he ever utilized this skill before? What the hell had changed that he would use it now? All of these questions ran though her head as what she was positive were her final moments approached her.

'Is this it?' She thought as the creature surveyed them all, its lopsided gaze passing over them. 'I'm just going to die here and there's nothing I can do?' She railed against it, the unfairness of it. She reached out, desperately; to what little of her swarm she could call up, looking for something, anything to use to free her. In an instant Leviathans mechanical gaze snapped to her, almost as if he could sense her desperation. She looked into those four empty green pits and felt despair like no other rise up in her. It was like he was mocking her with that gaze, calling her weak as she stood trapped, unable to move, _unable to breath, trapped in the dark, left to die. Someone please help m-_She bit into her tongue drawing blood as she did so, it was the one bit of movement that the abomination before her seemed to allow. Her despair suddenly found itself smothered, obliterated under the weight of her rage.

"WELL!" She screamed, angry tears brimming as her voice cracked, all eyes turned to her. Taylor Hebert, Skitter, the girl with the bugs as she stared down the Endbringer. "ARE YOU GOING TO STAND THERE LIKE AN IDIOT OR ARE YOU GOING FUCKING DO IT!?" She refused to be cowed; she refused to die quietly like they wanted, like IT wanted. Leviathan didn't respond, not like she expected him to, as he raised a single claw towards her. She felt her chest tighten, her veins bulge, and she was certain she was going to explode-

Until she didn't.

Suddenly she could move again, her limbs freed, the water beneath her, returning to its natural consistency, and she was on her hands and knees catching herself.

"Brave of you." A voice, deep and filled with power spoke. She barely managed to look upwards as she caught sight of a man, his back to her, garbed in a simple coat and pants. "Few can look death in the eyes like that." He turned to her, raven hair parting to reveal a single crimson orb staring back at her. He reached out, placing a large hand at the back of her head. "Rest now." He turned again fully facing the Endbringer again. "I will handle this."

Ω Ω Ω

Interesting girl, Taylor Hebert. The girl who would grow to kill what to her might as well have been a god. On one hand a part of him hated denying the girl. Had he not entered this universe she might have survived this battle and grown into a force to be reckoned with. She would have gone through trials and ordeals that would have surely broken countless others. Omega chuckled lightly to himself. That was the crux of it all though wasn't it? She was the girl with the bugs who would have been the one to kill a god. She was the one the universe would bring low and demand she stay down and what would she do? She got back up. She was a perfect example of why he so loved the denizens of the multiverse, and humans in particular. The girl who would fight and claw her way from the bottom to the top, stumbling at times, failing at others, but she always got back up. The humans like her were the reason he stood tall like he did. If ones like her could pick themselves up, beings of extremely finite life, power, strength, and knowledge, if they could face their fears, their shortcomings, and all of the challenges that assailed them and still overcome them, then what reason did he have to wallow in self pity? How could he, a supposed being of higher power, simply stand by that? That was his challenge that the people of the multiverse had put out to him, regardless if they knew it or not.

He could picture them all now, the boy who had his world taken from him in an alley and built himself up to be a symbol that criminals feared. The child who once thought only of himself, only to have the consequences thereof thrust into his face and to change his ways, to try and rise and again and again to an impossible standard of responsibility and to meet it every time. The man with his failings, his vices, the one who created death who had been so woefully ignorant of it only to find it thrust into his face and worked to stop that death. And though that man failed at times and was led astray at others he always tried to get back to that path. These and more the being had seen and these and more he respected.

Omega shook his head and turned away from the girl, this was no time for him to get lost in his thoughts. Crimson eyes turned upon the monstrosity, the abomination. Past the facsimile, past the form into the space behind it. Into hulking mass of matter and twisted space behind it. It was a kind of beautiful, if you found a thing ripping and twisting the fabric of space beautiful. He took a step forward, the water under his feet returning to its regular viscosity as he did. As he strode forward tendrils of his crimson energy was peeling from his form, each one reaching out and slapping at empty air.

"Disgusting." He muttered lowly, letting loose a pulse of power. The wave cutting the twisted creation's control over all the water it passed over. Within seconds the whole of the Endbringer attack team found themselves freed from their imprisonment. "You're disgusting." Omega intoned once more, splaying his hands outward as this 'Leviathan' seemed to rock slightly as the wave of energy passed over it. Just as he was about to launch in his attack the a section of water exploded upwards, the heroine Omega was sure was Alexandria, rocketing forward, taking in a lung full of air just as she prepared to pulverize it. And like that all motion exploded as the now free parahuman's either went to make a hasty retreat backwards to what they might have thought was a safe distance while two others, Omega thought their titles were Legend and Eido-something, followed in on the onyx superwoman. The former moved quickly firing blast of energy at differing angles, his lasers making sharp and sudden turns to strike the beast. Meanwhile the later seemed to have settled for attacking with rather clumsy applications of gravitational shearing. The roar of engines filled the multiuniversal beings senses for a moment as a cut and sliced up robot of some kind, Dragon if he recalled correctly, hovered before him.

"Thank you for the assist but we need you to regroup with the rest of the assault team, you're power seems to have disrupted Leviathan's control over the water but we're dealing with a lot of unknowns here." The machine spoke, its voice modulation coming out as somewhat feminine. The machine gestured with its one remaining arm, the other little more than sparking wires from the elbow down.

"The Triumvirate is holding him off for some time but I really need you too-" "No." The machine stilled, taken aback by his rejection.

"This _thing_ and its ilk are my prey and mine alone." He stepped forward, pushing the machine to the side even as he heard its thrusters suddenly whine with exertion to fruitlessly counter act his sudden application of strength. Before she, apparently it was a she, could make any attempt at protest he was gone. His sudden movement casing the water and earth crater slightly. Then he was upon it, his fist deep in the abomination's abdomen, launching it off into the distance. Satisfied that he had just enough time to make his point clear he turned, his crimson gaze passing over the three stunned heroes.

"You are no longer needed here. This is my fight now, if you stay you will only serve to get in the way." The woman didn't react, her body floating stock still as she stared at him. Legend was less reserved in his lack of reaction but was clearly surprised and doubtful. The third of their number Omega didn't even have to waste his time looking at to get a feel for his reaction. Aggression was rolling off the man in waves; Omega had to smirk just a bit. Clearly someone didn't like being dismissed so handedly. He had no doubt the woman was just as seething, she however just seemed to have a much tighter lid on her body language.

"We won't just leave you to fight him." Legend spoke, his voice carrying a timbre to it that probably made the man sound and look more charismatic to his peers. "You just surprised him, and he's pulled tricks we didn't even know he had and-"

"That's my point." Omega sighed, eyes boring into the blaster. "None of the fights you've had beforehand with it or any of them have been anything even approaching the real deal." He pointed out drawing their attention to Leviathan as it rose up from its downed position, the entire left side of the beast was missing yet it still moved to stand, supported by the water rising up to hold it in place as its flesh rapidly repaired itself. "These things, these _Endbringers_ as you call them," by all creation how he hated to call these gnats by that name, "Thus far they've been toying with you." Omega turned back the heroes, watching as they all tensed at the sight of the creature. "Three of them is overkill, it would have been enough for one of them to simply wipe out your species and there would have been little you could have done to stop them. You win because they _let _you win."

Alexandria turned, suddenly her head and presumably her eyes, or eye as it were, locked onto Omega, her body language suddenly very tight. " 'Your species' huh?" she intoned, her voice carrying a certain weight the Omega found he could not deny, even if it was just a small weight. "Strange thing to say, especially when you come here with all this supposed knowledge of the Endbringers. A bit suspicious if you don't mind my saying." Omega almost snorted at the clear threat implied by her words. He turned to her, his grin expanding into sharp smirk. Why not play with her while he was here, it would at least be a bit amusing.

"Oh you think so?" he chirped, chuckling on the inside as he watched the woman tense even further and as he felt her teammates tense similarly. "Maybe you know what I mean. Maybe you might even know what it is I am." The woman didn't answer only glaring at him. "But then again maybe you don't. Doesn't matter. Go." He turned from her, ready to go forward until her hand gripping his arm tight. Attempting to halt his movement.

"We're not d-" That was as far as Alexandria got in her sentence before she suddenly found Omega's knee buried in her diaphragm. Usually this would have resulted in no real damage to her and a broken knee for her attacker. In this case however, she suddenly found all the air ripped from her lungs, previously strong and immovable arms suddenly weak and near limp at her sides. And then there was the all encompassing pain that assaulted her, pain like she hadn't felt since Siberian had taken her eye. And then she was gone, flying through the air and back, somehow paralyzed to stop her movement. The third among them- Eidolon! That was his name- moved quickly to retaliate for the sudden attack but he was no more prepared for the fist that cracked his helmet and sent him into unconsciousness. Legend was the only one who made no move, frozen in place as Omega quickly took hold of the hooded hero by the clasp of his cape.

"Take him." With a flick of his wrist Omega tossed the unconscious hero at the blaster, who only just barely caught him. "Things are about to get a little dicey up in here." He turned looking over to Leviathan, who had nearly replaced all of his destroyed tissue.

"Don't do this." The hero pleaded. "Don't just throw your life away. No matter how strong, fast, or durable you are you can't just take him alone." He shifted, getting a better grip on his teammate. Omega turned, looking at the man, truly looking at him. He saw the tiredness, the desperation that he worked to keep hidden.

"Worry not human." He turned away, taking in the factors. "These beasts will not be my end today, for I am theirs." He pulled, a fraction of his power creeping to the surface. "Just stay back and watch on." And with that he was gone, a streak in the sky racing to the Endbringer.

Ω Ω Ω

Rebecca Costa-Brown, better known as Chief Director of the PRT and more secretly known as Alexandria was more than a little agitated at the current string of events. Endbringer battles were always a danger and Leviathan was always the one that posed the greatest danger to her. While her body was nigh-invincible she still required oxygen to live and the macro-hydrokinetic had multiple times taken advantage of that fact. So it had been no surprise when the creature had attempted to drown her once again, no the surprise came with how much of an afterthought it had seemed to be with the monster. Leviathan had always presented mover like speeds while in water and even outside it but his sudden pivot attack was something he had never once shown he could execute and had taken her by surprise. Second was the fact that usually he would hold her under the water to ensure that she could not escape, this time he merely entrapped her and she found herself powerless to move, powerless to fight back against the sudden crushing pressure on all sides.

She coughed once into her hand as she pulled herself upwards with her flight, concrete and rebar effortlessly being pushed aside as she rose from the crater of her most recent impact. She looked down, her sharp eye catching sight of the slight wetness that stained her suit. This new player, he who had so easily trumped Leviathan's control over water, something many people had thought impossible, and his the fact that he seemed capable of physically overpowering both him and her. He'd been goading her into attacking, or at the very least into giving him a reason to forcibly remove her from the fight. It had been an obvious manipulation, plain as day, and yet she still fell for it. Not because he outsmarted her, no it worked simply because he _dismissed her_. In all her time as being one of the top Parahuman's in the world and holding the highest position in the PRT people around her had been giving her unasked and deserved deference. To simply be told to go away so bluntly by some nobody, it infuriated her like never before.

"Are you alright?" Alexandria turned catching sight of Legend as he flew towards her, Eidolon draped over a shoulder. She suppressed the urge to click her tongue in annoyance, she had an image as the invulnerable Alexandria to uphold and it was bad enough all these other parahumans, hero and villain alike, had just seen her so handily removed from the fight.

"Of course," She grunted, unable to keep the slightest tremor out of her voice, subtle enough that those below hadn't heard it, but she could see that Legend caught it all the same, she could see play out on his face plain as day. She didn't have time to deal with that however; the parahuman, if he was even human, had just ruined all attack plans against Leviathan and search and rescue was on hold because of it. She had to reassert herself back into her position of power and take command. Outright attacking the unknown individual wasn't the best course of action because of his obvious trump and brute abilities, not to even begin to mention his potential mover ability. She turned to the gathered defenders ready to speak when she noticed something.

None of them were looking at her.

All eyes were firmly locking in the general direction of the individual and subsequently Leviathan as well, all visible eyes wide. The flying brick turned, her curiosity, and mild vindictive want to see the man being ripped to shreds, won over her better judgment. What she beheld was something both strange and horrifying. Leviathan's form could be seen held aloft in the air by a truly absurd amount of water as dozens of tendrils of water each as long as whole trains and moving at blinding speeds in what was plain to see a futile effort to hit a glowing red dot as it ducked and dove around each and every one before taking a wide slash at the Endbringer's chest, a blow that sent the middle child reeling as well as sheering off his arm in the process, water from the ocean shooting upwards to only just barely catch the beast. Then the dot shifted and shot forward again, this time plowing through the Endbringer's skull and subsequently obliterating its head. Even this didn't seem to deter the beast as its remaining arm snapped outwards, a clear attempt to catch the man that might have worked had a cone of red light not shot outwards and simply _erased the arm from existence_.

She could see it now, even from so far away she could see the message he was sending clear as day and it chilled her to her bones. He wasn't fighting Leviathan, he was _playing with him_. Before she could even begin to contemplate the implications of such an action the earth suddenly shook, the sky, once dark with rain clouds turned white. And then all of creation shook.

Ω Ω Ω

This was just like any other solar cycle as any in the current Cycle. The Warrior simply held its Golden Avatar 20 meters above the terrestrial earth, is Avatar's hand splayed outwards in causal indifference as it extinguished the fire beneath it. The nearly devastated forest bellow it smoldering as it did so. This had been like all the other solar cycles on this planet since it lost its partner, since it's Other was taken from it. It could feel Conflict Engine 223 5,560.2 kilometers on this worlds magnetic north-west of its Avatar beginning an assault of one of the human cities there. The entity, Zion, felt a pang of something at the thought of the Conflict Engines, tools previously utilized by its partner before its demise. Since the Thinker's demise Zion had worked to uphold the Cycle as best it could, things weren't going as smoothly as the Entity had modeled out but it had been within acceptable ranges. Still though Zion turned its avatar, looking over the burned landscape. It would have to wait for-

**[ 223: Requesting Assistance]**

The Entity halted, caught only slightly off guard by 223's call outwards. While Zion could not control the Conflict Engines as the shard for such had been lost in the Thinker's demise, it could still hear them as they were still partially connected to it.

**[138: Situation]**

**[223:Anomaly]**

**[138:Explanation]**

That was unusual. The Conflict Engines should have been more than well equipped to deal with this current wave of hosts. 223 should have had the simplest time with the current wave of hominoids given they were composed primarily of liquid 223 was currently geared towards manipulating. The Entity turned its attention toward the unit in question, preparing to-

**[223:ASSISTANCE REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY]**

Zion mentally recoiled from the message, actually taken aback by the sudden communication.

**[138: Responding]**

**[664: Responding]**

**[223: Restriction Release Situation Critical]**

The Entity turned all focus over to the Conflict Engine, making note of the planet's oceans shifting in response to its sudden command over them. Already as it scanned over the planetary landscape it could make out 664 as it moved through the planets tectonic plates at hypersonic speeds. It could sense 223 as it made reentry into the planet from geosynchronous orbit, pulling together pieces of technology out from across the planet, rapidly assembling a number of high impact particle weaponry. Still however Zion was uncertain the necessity of the reaction as its pre and post cognition turned up nothing of note. It couldn't be an enemy of its kind; even in its despair it would have noticed one of its own taking roots in this system. Its golden Avatar stopped, hovering high in the air. It saw as 664 burst up through the planets crust only to be suddenly struck down, it's blackened crown of rock shattering like glass under the sudden assault. The Avatar remained stationary as it felt two invisible beams of energy pass it, igniting the air as it passed. Zion could see the non-host human turn, the male's hand waving in a dismissive gesture. Immediately a wall of power appeared between him and the blast, neutralizing it.

**[664:Attack failed, readjusting atta-]**

**{DEATH}**

Zion felt its Avatar pop out of existence, finding itself suddenly under assault, its mind cracking under a pressure unlike any other.

**{BREAK, BURN, CRY OUT AND DIE. I WILL CRUSH YOU UNDER MY BOOT LIKE THE WORM YOU ARE.}**

Zion's true body twisted and turned, cracking the earth beneath it squirming as it activated hundreds of its shards, trying to hold off the attack but finding the pressure increase more and more with each shard activated. And then in an instant it was all over, everything was over. The pressure, the pain, the agony of being alone. Suddenly Zion found it couldn't bring any of its shards to bear, no matter how it pulled none answered its call. It felt its form crack and pull away, shards and flesh alike crumbling into dust, as if it were being blown away by some kind of cosmic wind.

**[Query]**

It was a pointless transmission of data, Zion could only surmise one of its ilk had obtained set of shards that allowed it to not only evade its notice but also so quickly locate its true form and so critically damage it so absolutely. The transmission was only a formality. Something the hosts of this world would liken to a final request.

**{ENTROPY}**

Ω Ω Ω

It would be an image the people of the world would never forget, but one that was undeniable. On May 15, 2011 the world had almost resigned itself to its destruction. Leviathan, The City Killer, accosted the seaside cities and islands. Behemoth, the Hero Killer, waded into populated area, his sole purpose seeming to be the extermination of all life and single minded murder of the heroes and villains that moved to stop him. Then came what many would argue the worst of them all The Simurgh, The Hope Killer, did not destroy cities like Leviathan, she did not kill heroes wholesale for the mere purpose of killing. No, she twisted the people in those cities, turning them into ticking time bombs. Cities attacked by The Simurgh had to be quarantined for fear of what she had done to people of the cities she had attacked. Slowly and surely they were eroding the world and its people. It was no exaggeration that at that point that if the pattern held true with no change, the world and its people were doomed to die off slowly and painfully. Then everything changed. On May the 16th the world woke to the news of Leviathan's attack on Brockton Bay. They saw the pictures of the aftermath, and the first had accounts. In one night the world had gone from the certainty of its destruction to the news that all three of the Endbringers had fallen.

Pictures flooded the internet within hours of the announcement. Pictures of what remained of Leviathan's corpse strewn across the water logged streets, the remnants of Behemoths obsidian rock body scattered and shattered like broken pottery. The one that got people talking the most however was The Simurgh, the headless, wingless, body of the Hope Killer suspended in the air, seemingly crucified on a cross of crimson light. For days the world held its breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting to wake up from what most certainly _had_ to be a dream. But as the days bled to weeks, and then months the world found that it needed to accept the truth of the situation.

It was free.

Of course the news wasn't all good, although the unknown parahuman had defeated, nay obliterated, the Endbringers the world soon noticed something else was gone from it. Scion had disappeared. Many found it worrying how what was regarded as the world's most powerful, or previously most powerful, parahuman's sudden disappearance. Especially what it meant to the overall climate of crime and world safety in general. Of course it was a kind of silent agreement that Scion was different from other people in the sense that anyone who had any real interaction with him would note how he always seemed to be looking through them and never at them.

Still however the world was in a middle ground that it did not know what to do with. Over a two weeks after the death of the Endbringers there had been no reported sightings of their killer. People speculated of course as to where he had gone and why but no one had any real clear answers. One thing that became clear however was that he was still present. This was most obvious when a month after the fall of the Endbringers, The Ash Beast vanished off the face of the earth. All that remained was a scorched patch of earth. Then there came the Butcher, crucified much like the Smuirgh had been. And despite the sheer terror that death caused no reports surfaced of a nigh unstoppable war lord taking over the Butcher's territory.

Then the S9 suddenly found themselves on the hit list, Burnscar found with her brain leaking out of her skull, some of Crawler's ashes were being sold on Ebay for over an hour before the auction was shut down. Siberian just seemed to disappear. Only bits and pieces of Mannequin was found, and the only thing left of Hatchet Face was his head. Shatterbird was found dead with a number of crystalline spears pinning her to a building. Bonesaw was found a few days later in an alley way, and while she appeared to be physically fine all tests showed that she'd been dead for at least three days. It was another week before Jack Slash was located. Unlike his compatriots he was found alive but in not in any better a position that they. He'd been found with his tongue cut out and his eyes seared. He was found wondering the streets of New York, deaf, mute, and blind until he simply fell over and died. An autopsy showed lacerations and burns over every inch of his body. Best guess was that he had been tortured for around a month as some of the lacerations showed signs of healing. And while this certainly didn't soothe any nerves, none shed a tear for the man.

Still though the reports and bodies kept piling up, until one day four months after the day the world changed, they stopped. The world still had evil people in it, but the world felt a bit safer even so.

Ω Ω Ω

She shuffled uncomfortably in her chair, dark eyes looking out from under the brim of her hat at the… _thing_ that say before her, a questioning smirk and arched brow pointed at her, or more specifically her hat.

_Step 1: Take off the hat._

She complied with the step almost automatically before she caught herself, seeing the irritation flash through his crimson eyes as she moved to follow the instruction from her power. She shuffled slightly and sat up straighter, pushing her power to the back of her mind. The thing nodded once, as if it could feel her action and took up the seat directly in front of her before swinging it's legs onto the table.

"You get three questions." It said, it's voice like the rumble before an earthquake. It held up a finger, it's smirk becoming all teeth. "No cheating."

Fortuna took in a steadying breath, the Doctor had expected something like this when the being had appeared in the facility and said it would allow them the courtesy of a meeting. A small smile played at her lips, if nothing else she would cherish Rebecca's sour look at the thought of being _allowed_ a meeting. Still however she set herself and asked the most pressing question.

"Will you ever become a threat to Humanity?" The being looked at her and she saw something pass through those crimson orbs before it was gone. It took it's legs off the table and looker her dead in the eye, amusement gone from it's gaze.

"Is the volcano a threat to the islanders?" It asked, eyes boring into her. "Is the sun a threat to the planet?" It shrugged. "I'm not here to kill or enslave humanity, and I would not want to destroy it but like that volcano, one day I will erupt, like the sun one day I will consume your world in fire." It sighed, looking remarkably _human_ for a moment. "But to answer you clearly, no I am not a threat in the sense that I will not seek to destroy you." Fortuna nodded slowly, even without her power she felt that was as far as she was going to get with this being.

"What are you then?"

"The End."

She stared at the being, waiting for it to elaborate for a moment before resigning herself that she would not get a clearer answer from the being. She sighed, and then quickly reached back out to her power, asking for the path towards getting the most information from the being with a single question.

_Step 1: No_

_Step 2: That was your third question._

She recoiled like she'd been struck, before she could so much as utter a word It was gone. With nothing but the light wind from the telltale displacement of air as evidence that it had ever even been there. Fortuna sighed once more, standing to her feet and turning. She almost called for a Door when she felt a her power prod her, unbidden.

_Step 3: Get a better hat._

She frowned, fingering the brim of her fedora as she glared at the air. She rather liked her hat thank you very much.


End file.
